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A lot or a little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

Positive Messages

Although the movie makes it very clear that family is important and fidelity is a priority, there are some confusing messages about in-law relationships. Sometimes it seems like some abuse -- verbal or physical -- is OK. It’s all played for laughs, but it’s still confusing.

Positive Role Models & Representations

A father is protective (actually overprotective) of his daughter, which is admirable, in a way. But he has no boundaries -- for example, he interrogates his son-in-law about whether he’s still attracted to his daughter despite her having had two kids. A woman flirts openly with a married man.

Violence

Father-in-law and son-in-law tussle at a child’s birthday, taking swipes at each other while in a ball pit. They also have heated, verbally abusive exchanges. A man accidentally cuts himself, and his blood spurts everywhere at the dinner table.

Sex

Some discussion about infidelity. A man’s private parts appear to be erect in his pants. A woman role-plays with her husband and pretends to be another person to add spice to their relationship. A woman prances around in her underwear. One character is a sex therapist. Bikini-clad women drape themselves all over one character.

Language

The name “Focker” is, of course, meant to suggest the word "f--ker" (and characters sometimes pronounce it in a way that emphasizes this). Other language includes several uses of "s--t," "damn," "boobs," "hell," "crap," "ass," and "oh my God" (as an exclamation).

Consumerism

One character (who's pointedly referenced as being more well-off than another) has many symbols of affluence: a fancy car, a mansion, etc.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A woman brings a bottle of wine to visit a married man, gets drunk, and then proceeds to "attack" him after she undresses down to her underwear.

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that the third comedy in the "Fockers" series (which started with Meet the Parents and continued in Meet the Fockers) mines the same material as the previous two installments: the conflict-filled relationship between a father-in-law and his son-in-law. A few new tweaks -- such as a woman hitting on a man who's clearly married and devoted to his family, as well as discussion about both erectile dysfunction and over-function (there's an apparent erection in one character's pants) -- may be too mature for younger viewers. Also, the animosity between the two main characters verges on disturbing. There's less sexual humor here than in Meet the Fockers, but you can expect some jokes/talk and a scene in which a character gets drunk and strips down to her underwear. There's also some swearing (including "s--t" and plays on the name "Focker") and episodes in which two grown men attack each other.

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What's the story?

After the son-in-law he originally favored has an affair, ex-CIA agent Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) decides that his other son-in-law, Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Ben Stiller), is good enough to entrust with the future of the Byrnes family. Always starved for Jack's approval, Greg takes his mission seriously, but is discouraged when he learns, during a visit from Jack and his mother-in-law (Blythe Danner), that things -- as usual -- aren't as simple as they first seem. Meanwhile, an article that Greg wrote for a medical journal has attracted the attention of an alluring (and persistent) pharmaceutical sales rep (Jessica Alba), who recruits him to be the spokesperson for an erectile dysfunction medication. (He considers it because his kids might have to attend a fancy preschool.) Plus, Greg's wife Pam's (Teri Polo) ex-boyfriend, Kevin (Owen Wilson), is still hung up on her; Greg's father (Dustin Hoffman) is off to Seville to find himself; and his mother (Barbra Streisand) continues to dish out sexual advice while sharing anecdotes about him.

Is it any good?

LITTLE FOCKERS is the third installment in what has proven to be a successful, if entirely predictable, franchise. At this point, De Niro and Stiller have their banter and prickly chemistry down to a science, and they inhabit their tense relationship in a satisfying and believable way. Even the cheesiest lines -- De Niro calling Stiller’s character "the Godfocker," for example -- elicit a chuckle.

The cast is the best thing about the movie, save perhaps for Alba, who appears to be channeling Tea Leoni’s kooky charm in Flirting with Disaster, but with less success. But, honestly, some of the Fockers antics are really tiresome at this point. Shouldn’t Greg and Jack get along by now? A secondary storyline that has Laura Dern playing the director of an uber-preschool is a funny diversion and could have added more interest had it been further explored (perhaps Little Fockers should have attacked helicopter parenting instead?). The film will entertain Fockers fans, but if you didn't like the first two, don't get your hopes up.

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